LONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Pay settlements awarded by British employers have risen in value after a largely stable 2025, suggesting the start of a shift towards higher deals this year as businesses
UK Pay Settlements Increase, Indicating Higher Deals Ahead for 2026
UK Pay Settlements and Economic Outlook
LONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Pay settlements awarded by British employers have risen in value after a largely stable 2025, suggesting the start of a shift towards higher deals this year as businesses compete for staff, data provider Brightmine said on Wednesday.
Current Pay Trends
The median basic pay award of 3.2% in the three months to the end of January represented a marginal increase from the 3% level recorded over 2025 as a whole, Brightmine said.
Bank of England's Interest Rate Considerations
The Bank of England is monitoring pay growth as it considers when to resume its cuts to interest rates. A broader measure of pay in official data published on Tuesday showed a slowdown in earnings growth in the last three months of 2025.
Brightmine said:
* Two-fifths of the latest pay awards were up from theprevious year * Two-thirds of all settlements were worth between 3% and 4% * Challenges facing the economy mean employers are likelyto maintain a cautious approach to pay * April's minimum wage increase will leave less headroom forpay progression elsewhere * The data, collected between November 1 and January 31, wasbased on 59 pay awards representing just over 238,000 UKemployees(Writing by William Schomberg; editing by Suban Abdulla)
